What Will Happen To 30 Rock‘s Avery Jessup Now That Kim Jong-Il Is Dead?

In the wake of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il‘s death, many are questioning what it means for the political state of that troubled country, as well as for the world at large. We here at Crushable totally care about those things, but we’re also somewhat curious as to what it will mean for fictional character Avery Jessup.

If you will recall, at the close of the last season of 30 Rock, Jack Donaghy‘s wife Avery was still in North Korea after being kidnapped and forced to serve as a propaganda mouthpiece for Kim Jong-Il’s regime:

This freed up Jack to participate in amusing bits like “how to raise a baby daughter alone” and “let’s make Kenneth the Page pretend to be my wife to keep me from feeling lonely.” This was a smart move on the show’s part. I mean, you can only play Jack and Avery’s obsessively perfect relationship for so many laughs until it gets old. Also, viewers needed a break from Avery. Despite the fact that she’s clearly meant to satirize those sexy, conservative women you see on Fox News, she can get kind of annoying after a while. It also drew an amusing parallel between the type of misinformation you get from Fox News, and the ridiculous propaganda of a tyrannical government regime. Obviously, there’s a difference, but…how much of one?

But now that Kim Jong-Il is gone, the show has a few options. They could kill her off, leaving Jack’s daughter motherless, but I don’t know if a comedy like 30 Rock would go to such a dark place. (Then again, they’re not afraid to joke about marital rape or murdering strippers.) They could bring her back to New York and try to write more funny story lines for her. (What weird tics has she picked up in North Korea?) Or, they could send her on an Odyssey-like quest to get home, which would have the potential for all sorts of international hijinks. Personally, I’d be okay with any of those options, but I’m guessing the show’s producers will choose the second one, because nobody likes to see Jack Donaghy sad.

ugh… i hate avery i hope she never comes back. i love elizabeth banks but avery is not for jack. i was devastated when he chose her over nancy donovan. although he didn’t really chose her, he only picked her because she was pregnant.